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As the graph shows, the vast majority of plug-in electric vehicle sales in the US have been in California — with Georgia, Washington, New York, Florida, and Texas making up the anemic vanguard.

A recent thesis published by the Swedish Uppsala University Department of Earth Sciences department has raised the question of whether the rapid expansion of renewable energy technologies is inherently sustainable. According to PhD student Simon Davidsson, who wrote the thesis — Natural resources and sustainable energy — the key factor to ensuring renewable energy expansion remains sustainable is to take into account the materials used and the sustainability of industries involved. Specifically, even though solar and wind technologies produce renewable energy, the materials used in the construction of every solar panel and wind turbine are not necessarily sustainable in and of themselves, nor are the industries involved in their construction.

Sometime in early 2018, the EV community in the U.S. will buzz about the specific clauses in the Internal Revenue Service section code IRC 30D, better known as the “Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit.” That’s the code that allows for up to $7,500 off on federal taxes for the purchase of a new electric vehicle. It’s one that has a “sunset” clause that is specific to each vehicle manufacturer’s success. Once each manufacturer (OEM) reaches 200,000 cumulative U.S. sales of all of its EVs (from 2010 onward) the phaseout process begins. So, the more EVs an OEM sells, the quicker the credit will sunset. That mean the OEM that wins, is first to lose, but has actually won (because of their success).